Committee Likely to Endorse Emergency Contraception Bill Today
       Members of the Joint Committee on Public Health are expected to endorse legislation Wednesday that would allow all women to receive emergency contraception without a doctor's prescription.
       The so-called EC bill (H 1643, S 1319) would give specially-trained pharmacists the ability to dispense the pills - essentially a higher dose of birth control hormones - without requiring women to obtain prescriptions from their physicians. The bill also requires all hospitals to provide emergency contraception to victims of sexual assault.
       Supporters say the legislation provides easier access to the pill for women who fear they could be pregnant after unprotected sex or rape. It will also reduce some of the roughly 26,000 unintended pregnancies and subsequent abortions performed across the country each year, they argue.
       Opponents argue the pill can cause abortions and say the hormones could cause unknown long-term health risks. They also argue the bill places an unfair mandate on those Catholic hospitals that don't believe, for religions reasons, in providing the pill.
       The legislation has the support of 83 lawmakers and was passed on a voice vote in the Senate last year. Committee co-chairs Rep. Peter Koutoujian (D-Waltham) and Sen. Susan Fargo (D-Lincoln) earlier this year said they see better prospects for the bill's passage with the change in House leadership. The two will be joined by bill sponsors Rep. Douglas Petersen (D-Marblehead) and Sen. Pamela Resor (D-Acton) and women’s advocates at a 2:30 press conference in Room 130 to discuss the bill.